Ice Spear Totems Ascendant Build Guide (PoE Synthesis 3.6)

Introduction

Ice Spear was an unused skill for very long time. With its rework in 3.5 and its damage buff in 3.6, it became a very powerful clearing and boss killing tool. Its base damage and high critical chance have the potential to clear the whole endgame.

We choose to play totems, since the mechanic of the skill feels clunky when self-cast. The Ascendant class is a great choice for the build, simply because you can get an additional totem via the Hierophant ascendancy, while at the same time you get additional projectile perks via the Deadeye ascendancy.

The build achieves over 180% increased maximum life on the passive skill tree and focuses on critical strike and totem nodes. This results in a build that has very good endgame potential.

Build Summary

The Ice Spear Totem Ascendant does not require any big investments and can be played as a league-starter. Simple items like Tabula Rasa can carry you a very long way. Besides that, we focus on Critical Chance to Spells, Spell Damage, and Life. The additional maximum totem mod on Shield was moved from being a Betrayal mod to a Shaper mod in 3.6, which should make it easier to acquire in the long run.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

- Feels clunky in indoor maps
- It is annoying to do Elemental Reflect maps since totems one-shot themselves

Playstyle

Offensively, placing totems on the ground will place two totems, instead of one (the default). Placing totems away from monsters will allow Ice Spear to transition into its second form, which has an immense chance to critically strike. One pair of totems should be enough to clear nearby monster packs. Against tougher foes, you can use certain skills in order to augment your damage: Frost Bomb lowers enemies’ Cold resistance, and Frostbite is a powerful offensive curse for every Cold-based build.

Defensively, a great life pool along with a lot of free mana and Mind over Matter will take care of most hard hits you will take. Like all totem builds, this build is very safe through its very nature. Simply summon totems and stay behind them; if they die just replace them and keep your distance.

For Playstyle, you should mainly consider how Ice Spear works. The projectiles have two forms. After certain distance is travelled, the Ice Spear projectiles enter their second form, which adds a 600% Critical Strike Chance and 30-49% Critical Multiplier. This benefit is very powerful and you should play around it, meaning you ideally want to place your totems some distance from their intended target.

Ascendancy, Passive Tree, Bandits, and Pantheons

Ascendancy (Scion – Ascendant)

Passive point

Hierophant

Path of the Templar

Deadeye

First, we should head to the Templar Ascendancy. Hierophant provides the very powerful “one additional maximum totem”, along with some Mana perks and a free Arcane Surge buff. Path of the Templar will allow you to save quite a few passive points by starting from the Templar starting point on the passive skill tree. Deadeye provides one additional projectile and a version of the “Far Shot” mechanic; the Pierce and Bleed damage reduction are also useful.

Passive Tree

This is the endgame passive skill tree you should aim for. Our mainly keystones are Ancestral Bond and Mind over Matter; besides that we focus on picking Spell Critical Strike nodes, Life, Mana, and totem nodes.

Bandits

For this specific build we should help Alira in Act II. The critical multiplier, flat mana regeneration, and 15% all elemental resistances are stronger than the 2 passive skill points.

Pantheons

Major: Soul of Lunaris will allow you to avoid chaining projectiles, which can be lethal for such a build. To fully upgrade the Pantheon power, capture The Infernal King in Caldera Map, Jorus, Sky’s Edge in Temple Map and The Gorgon in Sulphur Vents Map. In order to do that you need to have Divine Vessel in the Map Device while you are activating the particular map, then just kill the map boss and give the captured soul in the vessel to Sin in Oriath.

Minor: There are many beneficial minor Pantheons for the build; we recommend Soul of Ryslatha for the better Life Flask sustain. Capture Gorulis, Will-Thief in Infested Valley Map to fully upgrade this Pantheon power.

For all the gem links we provide below, keep in mind that we list the gems in order of priority (starting from the top left, going to the right on each row of the links), meaning that if you lack the required number of sockets to fit all the gems, the first ones to drop are the ones at the bottom (with the bottom right being the last). Also note that in-game, as long as the sockets are linked, it makes no difference at all what order the gems are placed in.

Ice Spear (6-Link)

Ice Spear is a Cold-based spell that fires a barrage of projectiles, which have two forms. The second form occurs after the projectiles travel a certain distance. The second form gains an immense boost to Critical Chance and Multiplier, along with very nice Projectile Speed. You should always try to place your totems in such a position that they have the opportunity to utilizes the projectiles’ second form. We recommend two different links for clearing and single target.

Gearing

Capping your elemental resistances is essential and it should always be your top priority in any build; it should be the first thing you do when gearing up a character. Obtaining a 6-link, while very powerful and certainly recommended, can potentially be very expensive (requiring an average of 1500 Orbs of Fusing, obviously depending on your luck); as such, this should not really be a goal for you while gearing up, and you should instead settle for a 5-link until you have enough resources. A simple Tabula Rasa will carry this build a long way. A Shaper-based Shield with one additional maximum totem is an endgame goal.

Helmet

A rare helmet is best in slot. Look for any Ice Spear helmet enchant, except for the “% Chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical Strike with Ice Spear”, as this only works when you self-cast the skill. Use a regular helmet with life and resistances early on, since the other mods might be expensive and hard to get. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 80)

% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)

Projectiles Pierce an additional Target (crafted, Betrayal mod)

Nearby Enemies have -9% to Cold Resistance (Frigid Fossil)

Maximum mana (at least 50)

Body Armour

A corrupted Tabula Rasa for the +2 Levels to Projectile Skills can work as an endgame chest piece. A well rolled Shaper-based body armour can be very powerful. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 100)

Spells have +#% to Critical Strike Chance

% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)

Maximum mana (at least 50)

Gloves

Well rolled gloves are best in slot, preferably Fingerless Silk Gloves for the additional damage. Use regular rare gloves with life and resistances before you can afford the other recommended mods. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 60)

% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)

Projectiles Pierce an additional Target (crafted, Betrayal mod)

Maximum mana (at least 40)

Boots

Look for well rolled rare boots. For endgame boss encounters, you can also use Kaom's Roots. For enchant, look for “#% increased Critical Strike Chance if you haven’t Crit Recently”. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 60)

Movement Speed (at least 25%)

% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)

Belt

A well rolled Stygian Vise is a great choice for the build. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 80)

% increased Cold Damage (Frigid Fossil)

% increased Elemental Damage (Prismatic Fossil)

Amulet

A well rolled rare amulet works well for the build. The Pandemonius allows you to penetrate 20% of enemies’ Cold resistances, but can be pricey. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 50)

Critical Multiplier (at least 20%)

Maximum Mana (at least 40)

Rings

Well rolled Opal Rings are a great choice. There are no particularly powerful unique rings for the build. The Rare Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 50)

Maximum Mana (at least 40)

% increased Cold Damage

% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier (Essence of Scorn)

Weapon

A well rolled spell Dagger is best in slot if you choose to use Shield Charge. If you prefer to only rely on Flame Dash, you can also use a wand. The Rare Dagger Affix Priority is:

The Rare Wand Affix Priority is:

Shield

We would ideally want to have a rare Shaper-based shield for the additional totem mod. The Rare Dagger Affix Priority is:

Elemental Resistances (until capped)

Maximum Life (at least 50)

+1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems

% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells (at least 90%)

% increased Spell Damage (at least 50%)

Flasks

Diamond Flask is mandatory in every critical-based build. An Instant or half-Instant Divine Life Flask should be used, preferably with Bleeding removal Suffix. Since this is a Mind over Matter build, we should use a Mana Flask; Lavianga's Spirit is a great mana flask but can be pricey. Utility flasks like Quicksilver, Silver, Basalt can be used. Make sure you have Freeze, Bleeding and Curse immunity mods on flasks.

Jewels

There are no mandatory unique jewels for the build. Rain of Splinters is relatively cheap and provides the very handy 2 additional projectiles. If you choose to run your mana non-reserved, you can use Clear Mind.

Regular Jewel Affix Priority

% increased Maximum Life

% increased Cold Damage

% increased Totem Damage

% increased Projectile Damage

% increased Damage

% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Cold Skills

% increased Cast Speed while holding a Shield

% increased Critical Strike Multiplier for Elemental Skills

% increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier

Abyssal Jewel Affix Priority

Maximum Life (at least 35)

Maximum Mana

Adds # to # Cold Damage to Spells while holding a Shield

Adds # to # Cold Damage to Spells

% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier

% increased Cast Speed

Leveling

As a reminder, we have several guides to help you level up a character.

The build can be played once you pick up the Ancestral Bond keystone on the passive skill tree, this can happen very early on. Until then you can use spells like Freezing Pulse or any leveling skill you prefer.

Leveling Trees

These are the first steps you should take on the passive skill tree if you want to start using totems as early as possible, keep in mind that can feel kind of clunky since the spell’s damage scales later on, when you invest into critical strike nodes.

This passive skill tree is a representation of where you should be once you have picked Path of the Templar ascendancy (around level 70-75).

Useful Leveling Unique Items

As you begin a new character, there are few unique items that can boost your power exponentially. Tabula Rasa allows you to have a 6-Linked skill as early as you get the gems. Wanderlust gives a decent movement speed, which will make your leveling that much more efficient. Goldrim provides a lot of elemental resistances, this will let you worry less about gearing when approaching certain Act encounters. Lifesprig can fill your damage needs early on.

If you are a new player (or if this is your first character for the league), then note that obtaining these items will be very difficult, if not impossible. They are rare drops, which you can otherwise only acquire if you have saved up currency, so do not focus on them too much, and instead simply look for items that match the affix priorities listed in the gearing section above.

Gem Progression

Using Tabula Rasa will allow you to have 6-Link gem setups early on, which is why we show such examples below. If you cannot get Tabula Rasa (or another item with a 6-Link), then simply prioritize the first gems in each link provided below.

In order to acquire gems that are not available to your class as a quest reward, simply ask a friend to buy them off vendors for you, or buy them yourself from Sioasa in The Library in Act III Library.

Note: This gem link can carry you up until Blood Aqueduct, although the single target might lack; for smoother clearing you can socket in First Snow.

Once you have picked up Ancestral Bond you can start using Ice Spear totems, keep in mind this can feel clunky early on and you would preferably want to do it if you at least have Tabula Rasa. This is the gem link for level 38.

FAQ

What map mods are hard or impossible to do?

Both Elemental Reflect and no regeneration map mods are very hard and annoying for the build. Chaining mods should be avoided until you upgrade your Soul of Lunaris.

What content does the build excel at and what is it bad at?

Ice Spear does great in outdoor maps and can feel kind of clunky in indoor areas. The build is good at both clearing and boss killing, and it is one of the better spell totem builds.

Conclusion

The Ice Spear Totem Ascendant specializes in placing machine-gunning totems that shatter enemies with ice projectiles. If you enjoy staying behind and summoning totems in order to clear content, you will probably like this build.